Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Goodreads Blurb

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

The thing about Beautiful Disaster is that it had so many...unrealistic things going on, so I know I shouldn't like it, but on the other hand, there's a lot of stuff going on that makes me love it. It's that drama-filled book that honestly seems as if it would be better as a script for a movie, rather than a book. But it was so fun to read through and you know how in certain books/movies your chest feels all achy? I can name 3 parts where that happened to me! But eep! this was one disturbing book sometimes.

Honestly, the relationship was so...wrong. Completely messed up. They were best friends. Then they made a bet which Abby lost, so she stayed at Travis's apartment for a month. At the end of the month, they do it. Then she leaves in the middle of the night. Then he's pissed. then (I think. I kind of got a bit disturbed) they get together. Then they're the talk of the school and a guy hits on Abby. And Travis literally hits the guy in the face. Hmmm...and after that, it gets more dramatic and more twisty. And a bit more messed up. But it was sweet and the times they broke up (...mainly because of Abby now that I think of it.) was so extremely sad.

Travis is extremely violent and possessive, but there's something abou thim which makes you love him. (No matter how many people he punches...) Abby was actually really annoying sometimes, but I, for some strange reason, was always on her side when she and Travis broke up. Meh.

And even though this is Contemporary, there is no way any of this would actually happen. It's something that you'd wish could happen, but know it can't. But I really wish it could! It's one of those books which mainly teens will enjoy, adults not so much. You read it and if you don't overthink it, you'll love it for sure! But once you start wondering the whys and hows...it turns out not to be so good after all.

Pages: 361

Series: Beauitful Disaster #1

Genre: Contemporary/Romance

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Release Date: August 14

Rating: 2.5 stars---> 2

“To douchebags!" he said, gesturing to Brad. "And to girls that break your heart," he bowed his head to me. His eyes lost focus. "And to the absolute fucking horror of losing your best friend because you were stupid enough to fall in love with her.”

Blog Tour: Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear

Goodreads Blurb

Wish. Love. Desire. Live.
Sixteen-year-old Noli Braddock's hoyden ways land her in an abusive reform school far from home. On mid-summer's eve she wishes to be anyplace but that dreadful school. A mysterious man from the Realm of Faerie rescues her and brings her to the Otherworld, only to reveal that she must be sacrificed, otherwise, the entire Otherworld civilization will perish.

Innocent Darkness takes place in an alternate 20^th century LA where there are flying airships and where air pirates roam the skies. Almost nothing is the same, but there were still “society girls” who were expected to be, well…boring! Our main character is, of course, incredibly rebellious and has completely no interest in becoming a brainless zombie, preferring to be mechanic and fix up old cars/hoverboards. But something goes wrong when she test-drives a pixy she’s been fixing up and crashes with her best friend, V, who went along for the ride.

This is the first in a chain of events that somehow lands her in a boarding school where things are dreary to say the least. Water rooms, cruel punishments, little food, and no contact with the outside world, Noli is desperate to get out and finally snaps when her only friend, Charlotte, is taken away. On Midsummer’s Eve, she makes a wish that changed her life. This is where Noli is fully introduced to Kenign, the notorious hunter who has been searching for a girl with the “spark” for years to sacrifice to the Otherworld so that he and his people can live, if only for 7 more years.

But the magic won’t take hold of her for some reason and meanwhile V is searching for her high and low for his best friend because he knows something is wrong. After all, V isn’t who he seems either.

Innocent Darkness was more innocent than dark for sure, which I definitely enjoyed. I love my share of dark books, but something a less heavier was a relief. Not that it’s completely light. But I loved the steampunk elements that were thrown in along with the faery aspects! It’s incredibly contradicting actually, but I loved the way Suzanne Lazear wrote it!

Pacing. I actually loved the pacing in Innocent Darkness a lot! It was steady and never actually went up and down. Well, not unless you talk about the romance of course. I didn’t like the romance, I’ll admit. I think that Innocent Darkness would’ve been better if the feelings weren’t so…expressed. Nothing ever told me why Kevign was in love with our MC. Sure she was independent and different, but so is every other girl with the spark, right? So why Noli? It just seemed to false and sudden. V, I sort of understood. They knew each other since they were kids so of course, Noli would trust him! Mainly, it was the love triangle that annoyed me, though not much admittedly.

Noli was definitely one of those stubborn, but smart, characters. Unlike a lot of characters, Noli didn’t think or say anything stupid. She knew when enough was enough and was smart enough to keep her mouth shut when she needed to. And she didn’t continue to believe stupid lies even when evidence was there, thank goodness! And even though Noli was an amazing character, I found that my favorite character was defunuteky Charlotte! She was just so sweet, kind, and caring and I don’t think there could’ve been a better best friend that her! She was always supportive and always made sure that Noli was alright no matter what.

There were a lot of key surprises that were entirely predictable though and I was a bit disappointed, but I think that all the other amazing points definitely made up for it! There have been a number of mixed reviews and I definitely have mixed feelings about it, mostly good though! This is my first steampunk, honestly, but even I know it had more to do with faeries than steampunk. So anyone with a love of faeries? Definitely pick this up. Steampunkers may be a tad disappointed, but Innocent Darkness was amazing!

Pages: 408

Series: The Aether Chronicles #1

Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy

Publisher: Flux

Release Date: August 8

Rating: 3.5>>>4

Short Author Bio:

Suzanne Lazear’s young adult steampunk dark fairytale, INNOCENT DARKNESS, book 1 of The Aether Chronicles, will be released from Flux in August of 2012. Suzanne lives in Southern California with her daughter, the hubby, and a hermit crab, where she’s currently attempting to make a raygun to match her ballgown. She’s also part of the Steampunk group blog Steamed

Contact Info:

Suzanne Lazear's Blog

Suzanne Lazear's Twitter

Suzanne Lazear's Facebook

Book Haul!

Four things people:

1. I will no longer be using Showcase Sunday. It'll just be my "Book Haul" from now on!
2. I'll be forgoing Waiting on Wednesday because I have some posts I want you guys to see! (Like a Kaidan and Anna interview...)
3. I'll be including a weekly wrap-up post from now on.
4. ZOMG! I've gotten some awesome books this week! I'm so excited to start them!

For Review
         

Publisher

      

Netgalley

YES! I got The Dark Light! You guys have no idea how much I've been pining for htis title! AND, not only did I get it, I got a finished copy! It's so pretty you guys. I can't wait until it's in stores! I'm going on a scavenger hunt soon and I'm definitely taking a picture of it. On the shelf. At Barnes and Nobles. MUAHAHA. And I finally got Dark Companion! I seriously can not wait to read that one either! And Monstrous Beauty! I was not expecting that one! But it's been on my wishlist for so long, and I can now take it off! Woot! AND ZOMG. I got Whispers at Moonrise! You guys have no idea how much I've pinied for this one!

Eep! Read this already!


This Week...
Review of Second Chance Summer
Glitch Blog Tour: Character Post
Review of Glitch
Review of Cursed

And don't forget the giveaways!
Fall Into Summer
500 Followers

Cursed by Jennifer Armentrout

Goodreads Blurb

Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

I’m a giant fan of Jennifer Armentrout so when I got this in the mail, I was ecstatic! Sadly, I was disappointed, although I’m pretty sure I’m the only to feel that way. Cursed wasn’t as stunning as Jennifer’s other series, but it was pretty good anyways.

Character wise, I didn’t  like Ember. Even when proof was thrown in front of her face, she insisted that it was all a) a dream or b) a hallucination/lie. She had this atmosphere of distrust and despair that irked me a lot. Also, I feel like she had a multiple personality disorder. Yeah. Psycho, then emotional, then normal. Rinse and repeat As the book progressed, so did her attitude and thank GOD for that. She would slowly learn to accept that “gifts” were real and she would try to control her powers. Does she succeed? I don’t know…you’ll just have to find out yourself!

Hayden, our love interest…he, well, seemed typical and one of those cliché boyfriends. I’m sorry you Hayden fans! But he was a guy with an extremely powerful gift, frightneningly handsome and charming, and interested (*cough* stalking *cough*) Ember? WHAT!? It just struck a nerve reminding me of this love interest (who shall not be named) who I hated. Completely, utterly hated. Hayden just wasn’t swoon-worthy to me and well, I kind of wanted to strangle him. Although I’m sure Ember would kill me.

Speaking of, the romance. I’m kind of deciding whether it was good or bad. The romance wasn’t insta-love…actually, I’m deciding on that too. Hayden seemed to go insta-lovey from what we read and although Ember didn’t, I found it disturbing that she wasn’t more wary of some guy who had unnatural powers who was basically stalking her. And even when she was a bit wary, it lasted aabout half a day and she forgave him because he was charming and handsome. Uh huh. Yeah. Smart, Ember.

On the other hand, if you ignore all of that, the romance was sweet and…pretty non insta-love?

The plot, I’ll have to admit, did remind me a bit of Shatter Me, but Jennifer Armentrout creates her own plot off the “death touch” route, adding in other prett well-known gifts in. There were a lot of things that were pretty obvious, a few that weren’t, but all in all it was a pretty good tie off.  A few horrid things definitely go ont hat actually fit the book pretty well so in plot-wise it was pretty good!

And while I was going to rate this a 2 star book, the way Jennifer Armentrout tells the story brought it up to 3. Armentrout nows how to deftly weave a story and make the words into an enchanting piece that will probably captivate you from start to finish. There’s just something about her writing style that makes you bring your rating a star up! (Honestly, I think I’m pretty much the only person on Earth who pretty much disliked Cursed.)

Pages: 312

Series: Currently a stand-alone!
Genre: Supernatural/Romance

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Release Date: September 18

Rating: 3 stars

 

"Slowly, I eld my breath, reached and brushed the tips of my fingers over the velvety leaves. The weed shuddered once under my fingers. The soft leaves turned rough and crispy. I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my lip. When I did open my eyes, the weed lay limp against the bark. Dead."

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Goodreads Blurb

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.

When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.

As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.

In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.

Starting with the bad and ending in the good, Glitch had horrible, horrible, romance qualities. It seemed insta-love-ish because of the fact that after only what? A few hours she met Adrien, they were already making out. Good lord, spare me. She seemed to feel a “connection” despite the fact that she had barely known him. Honestly, I wanted to strangle some sense into her. And then, afterwards when her memory’s gone (totally not a spoiler. You’ll see when you read it) she’s suddenly the apple of another guy’s eye who loves her. *cough* AWKWARD. And she goes along with it, never mind the fact that it feels…wrong. So, you guessed it. LOVE TRIANGLE.

But while the romance really irked me, I actually liked Glitch! It, honestly, would’ve been so much better without the romance, but the world-building, the characters, the plot—they were all things I enjoyed reading about. The world-building was amazing and the way that each hard drive was wired in and how the Link controlled the people were amazing. The descriptions didn’t confuse me (much. Trust me, I’m totally lost on all this tech stuff). And I loved that the Link would hold of your emotions and that it made all color gray. I’m not sure if that symbolized anything…? But still. Love the world.

The characters! I can say I related to Zoe a lot. I mean, can you imagine not being able to feel anything? Not being able to see color? I could definitely relate to craving all that, despite being told all my life that it was wrong and abominable. Adrien was as great a character as Zoe and I think they were perfect together! Smiles…definitely. Characters were one of my favorite things about Glitch!

Plot? The plot was so…twisty. I mean, you had absolutely no idea who to trust. The good guys were bad, the bad guys were good. It was just AGH. But it made Glitch so much better! It’s like, you knew someone would stab Zoe in the back, but with all these people involved, you had no idea who! And the plot twists. Oh My God, the plot twists! I had to (well, in my literary mind) run to catch up with them! I was like, plo twist after plot twist which , usually, would be annoying. And yet, for some reason, I enjoyed it in Glitch!

Pages: 371

Series: Glitch #1

Genre: Dystopian/Romance

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: August 7

Rating: 3.5---> 4

"Adrien wasn't trying o help me at all. He was trying to kill me."

Blog Tour: Glitch by Heather Anistasiu

Hey guys! As part of the Glitch Blog Tour, Zoe, our protagonist from Glitch by Heather Anistasiu, will be sharing with use her Top 5 tips to well...

Zoel Q-24’s Top Five Tips to Avoid Deactivation

  

Getting caught glitching in my society could be grounds for immediately deactivation (i.e. death), so a girl’s gotta have a fair share of tricks up her sleeve. Without further ado, here’s my Top Five Tips to Avoid Deactivation.

1. Become an expert at lying.
2. When glitching, make sure to look like you’re still Linked. Stare straight ahead, don’t walk too fast, keep all facial features absolutely still and never, ever, let the Regulators see that you’re scared of them.
3. Trick number three: avoidance. If you see any officials in black uniforms, turn around and walk the other direction (but not in a way that looks like you are trying to get away them).
4. If you lose control of your powers in public, come up with a plausible explanation that does not involve admission of guilt.
5. If your number comes up for a regular diagnostic of your implanted hardware (which would inevitably reveal your glitches), you have two options: try to hack into Central Systems to falsify your records, or option two, run like hell, get on the subway and try to get lost in the underground city.

Glitch Blurb

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.
When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.
As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.
In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.

Short Author Bio

Heather Anastasiu is the author of the young adult sci-fi novel,GLITCH (St. Martin's Press/Spring 2012). She recently moved to Minneapolis with her family, and when she’s not busy getting lost exploring the new city, she spends most days writing at a café.

Contact

Heather Anistasiu's Website

Heather Anistasiu's blog

Heather Anistasiu's Goodreads

Heather Anistasiu's Twitter

Heather Anistasiu's Facebook

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